Provinces help students from poor families take online courses

A student has an online class via TV in Guyuan, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region. [Photo by Chen Jianlei/for chinadaily.com.cn]

Many provinces are introducing concrete measures to help poverty-stricken students attend online courses while making great efforts to fight the epidemic.

The move aims to ensure all students from poor families are able to continue their studies during the epidemic through online courses.

In Guangdong province, the Guangdong Provincial Education Foundation has purchased more than 9,000 tablet computers for junior and senior high school students to attend online courses.

According to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, the tablet computers are now being delivered free to the students.

"All junior and senior high school graduate students who come from the poor families will have tablet computers. We won't allow students to miss online courses because of poverty," said a statement issued on Monday.

The province began offering online courses to primary and middle school students on Monday, the statement said.

Li Xuelan, an office worker in Guangzhou, said the province has done a good job for the students from poor families.

"That would certainly greatly help the students from the poor families prepare for the gaokao and zhongkao."

Both gaokao, the national entrance examinations for universities and colleges, and zhongkao, the entrance examinations for senior high schools, are scheduled to take place in June.

In Henan province, the provincial department of education has also introduced measures to ensure all students from poor families are able to attend online courses.

In addition, close attention will be paid to students in epidemic-hit areas, children who are left behind by migrant parents and those whose parents are front-line medical staff in the fight against the epidemic, said the statement issued by local authorities.

Students without mobile phones or TVs should go to village committee offices or activity rooms of the Communist Party of China to attend the courses, it said.

Guo Ke, a teacher from Xi'an Technological University in Shaanxi province, said his university has provided temporary subsidies worth more than 1.46 million yuan ($209,000) so that 7,147 students from poor families can attend online courses.

Those from Hubei province, epicenter of the epidemic, have been provided with subsidies of up to 2,000 yuan each, he said.

Ren Mengjing, a teacher from Postgraduate Management Office of Xi'an Technological University, said her office has also provided subsidies worth more than 125,900 yuan to 907 postgraduate students from poor families.